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New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1875.

Amongst other canards circulated by the Opposition Press lately there was one which found ready credence. It was to the effect that “the General Government had “ perpetrated another job,” by appointing Major Palmer, R.E., permanent head of the Survey Department of the colony. There was a very slight foundation for the story, Major Palmer having been requested by the Colonial Secretary, by letterunderdateDecembor 23, 1874, to “in- “ speot and report to theGovernmentupon “ the state of the surveys of New Zea- “ land, with a view to the introduction of “a thorough trigonometrical system.” This duty Major Palmer undertook to perform, and wo have the result of his investigation before us in an elaborate report, occupying twenty-eight pages of closely printed matter, j ust issued by the Government Printer. The necessity for a reliable report upon tho general state of the surveys of the colony, by an independent authority, was absolutely necessary, inasmuch as the Conference of Chief Surveyors, got together some years ago, could not agree upon any general system. Indeed this result might have been anticipated, because tho chief surveyor of each province was called upon to sit in judgment on his own work, and as a matter of course, ho would not condemn it. Tho conference was a mistake, therefore, although strictly in accord with official precedent in Now Zealand, which has constituted tho Civil Service a court of government for itself, and by law makes it impossible to dismiss a member of that body, however groat may have been his misconduct. Acting upon a practice so familiar to them, the Government invited tho chief provincial surveyors to meet in conference, and suggest improvements in their own work. They mot, tho expense of tho conference being

borne by the colony, and equally according to Civil Service precedent, although there was a difference of opinion on some points, it was thought advisable to let well alone. But the reports of Mr. Mooehouse, as Secretary of Crown Lands, could not bo got rid of by such a process of mutual concessions and mild criticism ; it was therefore determined by Ministers to take advantage of Major Palmee’s presence in the colony to get an independent opinion upon the work done by the provincial survey departments.

In the course of his inspection, Major Palmer visited all the principal survey offices in the colony, with the exception of Taranaki, “and sought to acquaint ‘ ‘ himself as fully as possible with the “ details of the work, past and present, “ by examining the maps, field-books, “ and other office documents, by collect- “ ing statistical information under vari- “ ous heads, and by eliciting all else that “ he needed to know from conversation “ with the officers in charge,” who appear to have rendered him every possible assistance. Major Palmer adds ; “I “ have also, during this somewhat exten- “ sive tour, seen a good deal of the colony “ at many points, in both islands, and “ have thus been able to judge in person “ of its general character as an area for “ trigonometrical survey.” Thus prepared, he proceeds to give “ a sketch “ of the history of each survey separ- “ ately, and of the manner in which it is “ being carried on, giving also his opinion “of its worth, and a statement of pro- “ gress made.” The facts set forth in this narrative are verified in each case by the respective Chief Surveyors. He then proceeds to remark upon the best means of ameliorating the present state of the surveys, and setting on foot a sound general system. Our space in a single article would not suffice to do justice to this report, the several parts of which are deserving of the very closest attention. We shall content ourselves, therefore, on this occasion, with giving the general conclusions which Major Palmer arrived at, and a few remarks illustrative of the more striking features of his report. And first, as to general conclusions, Major Palmer recommends

(1) That a Trigonometrical Survey Department bo formed, with its head-quarters at Wellington, and placed under the control of a permanent SurveyorG enoral, assisted by a secretary. (2.) That a Principal triangulation be spread over the whole country ; a Secondary triangulation over as much of it as is likely to bo settled within twenty years, not including the parts already done ; and a Tertiary over all parts not yet observed, which may have been disposed of up to the time when the general larger observations come to an end. (3.) That the department undertake also the preparation of one uniform system of projections and sheets for maps and plans of the country, on which tlie surveys may bo drawn : also of any levelling operations which may be required. (i.) That a sum of £IOO,OOO be sot apart for those purposes (levelling excepted), to be expended as tire Surveyor-General may find most advantageous: but such expenditure to be spread over eight years at least, and not to exceed £20,000 in any one year.

We have quoted Major Palmer's recommendations literally in this place. Major Palmer thinks the work of triangulation as above suggested, might be completed in from eight to ten years, as far as needed, at a cost of £IOO,OOO, on the assumption “that the triangulations “ under Messrs. Heale, Jackson, and “ McKerrow, and part of that in Can- “ torbury, are of the character he sup- “ poses them to he,” namely, that they can all be welded into the general trigonometrical survey which ho recommends. On this branch of the subject, the report is suggestive. The triangulations are spread over six or seven separate districts in Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago. The details appear to have been carefully carried out; “but the work has been “ done piecemeal, and each piece in a “ different way. In its present state it “rests on a multiplicity of bases and “ standards, and on eight or nine separate ‘ ‘ determinations of true meridian and ‘ ‘ geographical position—some of them “ doubtless good, others more or less im- “ perfect according to the means and “ methods employed. In Otago alone there “ have been already at least seventy base “ linos, and seventy small triangulations, “ and there are as many yet to follow. “ You have anurnber of disjointed details, “of good enough quality in themselves, ‘ ‘ but as yet no means of piecing them “together. To put them to their full “ uses it will be necessary to bring the “ whole within the grasp of one exact ‘ ‘ and comprehensive system, and to refer “them, to a single standard of length, “ and a single starting point. If this bo “ done —and it can be done—the small “ errors and inconsistencies which must ‘ 1 undoubtedly have crept into the present “systems will be eliminated, and every “ part will be welded into a compact and “ homogeneous whole. The double pur- “ pose will also have been fulfilled of “ making all the trigonometrical work “ that has been done, available, both for ‘ ‘ cadastral record plans, and for the con- “ struction of accurate geographical maps “ of the country.”

“ Tho state of tho section surveys, “ however, is much loss encouraging,” Major Palmer reports. “Piecemeal “ work and want of unity of plan have “ here been introduced wholesale. Ten “ different departments have been at “ work in as many different parts of the “ colony, and following systems so various ‘ 1 that scarcely any two are exactly alike. “ Some of these systems have been good “ and others bad. Out of 11,130,400 “ acres returned as finished under this “ head, 4,730,900 acres, mainly in tho “ triangulated area, maybe said to come “up to that standard of accuracy which fits “ them to form the kind of map required ‘ ‘ by the country that is to say, a “ cadastral map, on the correctness of “ which all men may agree, and which “ will give safety and value to Crown “ grants, and protect individuals from “litigation, and Government from the “ risks involved in the issue of titles “ under the Land Transfer Act. But “ there is an enormous arrear of faulty “ work. Of tho remaining 6,405,500 “ acres, a very large proportion has been “ inaccurately done, and is next to valuo- “ less for the purposes named; tho whole “ of it must, sooner or later, bo submitted “ to tedious and costly revision, and “ the costliness will bo aggravated in some “ cases by the fact of the original field- “ books having been lost. . . Tho amount “ of money already squandered in section “surveys alone, which do not come up “ to tho degree of accuracy that is neces- ‘ ‘ sary, cannot be estimated at loss than “ £600,000. It would probably cost “ £300,000, in addition to triangulation, “ to set them all systematically to rights. “ This aspect of the case (continues “ Major Palmer) is certainly very “ serious ; and so long as the surveys in “ some of the provinces continue to be “ made as they are at present, it is per- “ fectly clear that wastefulness and “ disorder will go on and increase.” Hero, it will bo scon, is a practical comment upon tho loss entailed on Now Zealand by’ tho system of Provincial Government. Wo have an absolute money waste of one million sterling in surveys alone since the administration of tho waste lands of tho Crown was handed over to tho provinces under tho financial

resolutions of 1856 ; and the colony is daily assuming enormous money liabilities besides by guaranteeing titles under the Land Transfer Act. This aspect of the question of Constitutional amendment, presently before the country, must not be lost sight of. It is of the very foremost consequence to the colony that the injurious effects of provincial administration, past and prospective, should be laid bare. Major Palmee’s report does so unconsciously on one material point ; but the., evil he dealt with is even greater than that gentlemen suspected. However, he has written sufficient to thoroughly alarm the colony. And here we may remark, in passing, that the land fund of the respective provinces should bear the charge of rectifying the errors in survey within their boundaries. If is a charge with which the taxpayers, as a body, should have no concern. At this stage of the question, therefore, we desire to put this point prominently on record. Major Palmee further recommends, for the effective control of the detail surveys : (1) That as soon as practicable the General Government take charge ol all survey operations in the colony, abolishing for this purpose the present provincial organisations. (2) That tlie whole bo then placed nnder the Sur-veyor-General at Wellington, whose duty it will be to organise, and superintend all detail as well as trigonometrical operations.

(3) That those of the existing staffs who may wish to take service under tire new system at their present rates of salary bo retained, subject to approval by the Surveyor-General, who may, it lie wishes, introduce a test examination as a condition of their remaining. (4) That tlie existing system of centres and Chief Surveyors bo adhered to for the present at least. (Should abolition of provinces take place it might bo desirable to rearrange the areas of district surveys, and, perhaps, to change the titles of the superintending officers.)

We have given only an outline of the more salient points in Major Palmer’s report. It is, however, a paper to which we shall return for the purpose of placing other features of it before the public, whose interests it so very nearly concerns.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18750417.2.8

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4392, 17 April 1875, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,887

New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1875. New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4392, 17 April 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1875. New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4392, 17 April 1875, Page 2

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